I'm about to take delivery of a car that has just been imported from Japan but is a few years old.

Obviously there will be no UK history but I want to try and find out about the car's life in Japan. This must have been covered a million times before but how do I go about checking into this or is it wishful thinking?

 

It should come with a service book. You can verify the age of the car by looking for the seat belt label, which will show when the seat belt was made, then add 2 months for the age of the car. This could also highlight if it has been in an accident. If the label has been snipped out, be very wary.

 

Service history is normally kept at the dealers, but it should be possible for your importer to source this.

Otherwise, a shaken report (kinda like a super MoT) will give you some confidence that the car has been mechanically looked after while in Japan.

 

Decent importers should have the Jap history/ owners manual and auction details with the car.
Nick